[PSN Review] Germinator

Timing and accuracy are required to prevent germs from rising too high and overtaking the house.

- New Twist on Bubble Popping. No more old school match 3. Crash your germ bubbles into those of the same color until they POP… gooey, splotchy, splattering pops.
- Crazy Cast of Characters. Germinator features a crazy cast of multi-colored bubble germs with their own personalities and traits.
- Local Multiplayer. Battle your friends to show who can really clean house, or play against the AI.
- Move Support and more. Full support for the Sony PlayStation Move controller. Over 200 levels provide hours of challenge for casual and expert gamers alike.

In Germinator, you must eradicate all of the black germs that fester every level. You do this by shooting other germs at them, and every time that 2 or more germs of the same color come into contact they will merge and create a bigger germ until it explodes. The more germs that explode, the faster you can fill up your power-up bar in order to make trigger a power shot for your next germ. Each germ color has a different effect (for example, a Red Germ Powershot will go through black germs which can allow you to create a nice combo to destroy several black germs in a single shot), and the game does a great job at introducing each new germ color as well as letting you try out the Powershot for said color.

The Story Mode is very hectic and fast-paced since you must constantly be shooting germs to keep them from overwhelming you and getting to the top of the screen (or else you lose), and that same nature carries on into the local multiplayer mode where you can battle against another human being or go up against the AI. And don’t think for a moment the AI in the game is a push-over because you can actually decide how difficult you want it to be, and there is even a trophy for you in case you can defeat The Germinator himself on the highest difficulty level.

You also have a Puzzle Mode that is harder than either one of the other modes for the game. Why is that? Because in Puzzle Mode you are given a specific group of germs to use and you must think ahead as to how you can get rid of all the black germs with a limited number of shots, and chain reactions and combos are now your best friends. Aiming for that red germ on the lower right corner and hitting it with a rebound shot might just be what you need for it to grow and merge with all the other red germs around it so that it can grow, and grow and grow and explode in one giant burst, thus eliminating all black germs in the level.

And then, there is Arcade Mode for all you purists out there. This is your “endless level” type of Mode and you can select the difficulty for it before getting started. You will certainly have a different experience every time you play it, and it greatly adds to the replay value of the game since you can go on for as long as you want to, or as far as your skills take you.

Germinator is a fun puzzle game that adds enough twists to a classic formula as to make it an interesting game to add to your collection. There is a lot of content available in the game, and the proper puzzle mode will keep you scratching your head over and over until you can find that one shot that will open up your path towards victory.

Review

Pros

Cons

Easy pick-up-and-play mechanics.

A lot of content.

Some of the puzzle levels will really test your skills.

Rating

85%

Disclaimer

This review was based on a PS3 version of Germinator provided by Creat Studios.